A lawsuit accusing U.S. President Joe Biden and some of his top officials of complicity in genocide had its latest hearing this week after being dismissed earlier in the year. On June 10, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco heard arguments in the plaintiffs’ appeal in Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden.

The lawsuit was filed on November 13, 2023, by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of Palestinian human rights organizations Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) and Al-Haq, as well as three Palestinian individuals who live in Gaza and five Palestinian Americans who have family in Gaza.

“It is unfathomable that we are still here today,” plaintiff Waeil Elbhassi stated at a press conference following the appellate argument. Although CCR filed this lawsuit in November, “the genocide continues with the same intensity, with the same cruelty,” he noted, adding that many more of his relatives have been murdered in the last six months. “People are trying to flee because they’re fleeing death. They’re literally trapped in a killing field,” he said.

The plaintiffs allege that Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are engaging in complicity in genocide and failure to prevent genocide in violation of the Genocide Convention and customary international law, which is part of federal common law.

Plaintiffs are asking the court to issue an injunction preventing the Biden administration from sending money and weapons to Israel and from obstructing international efforts to implement a ceasefire in Gaza. They also want the court to order the Biden administration to exert influence over Israel to end its bombing of Gaza, lift the siege of Gaza and prevent the forcible transfer and expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza. And they seek a declaration from the court that defendants are violating their duty under customary international law that prohibits complicity in genocide and requires them to prevent Israel from committing genocide.

In an earlier hearing on January 26, U.S. District Judge Judge Jeffrey White characterized the testimony he heard from the Palestinian and Palestinian American plaintiffs as “truly horrific, gut wrenching, no words to describe it.” He noted that the government did not dispute the uncontradicted evidence of a “genocide in progress.”

“The Palestinian people are living in fear and without food, medical care, clean water or sufficient humanitarian aid,” White said. “Defendants — the president of the United States and his secretaries of state and defense — have provided substantial military, financial and diplomatic support to........

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